Dubbo Base Hospital: Saudi-trained anaesthetist sacked after toe surgery patient dies

EXCLUSIVE: Anaesthetist Dr Sanaa Ismail, 50, who was sanctioned over the death of a Sydney teen in 2005 has been sacked from Dubbo Hospital after a patient died on her watch.

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AN overseas-trained doctor sanctioned over the death of a Sydney teen after a golf ball accident has been sacked from a NSW country hospital after a patient died on her watch.

Anaesthetist Dr Sanaa Mohammed Ismail, 50, was found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct by medical authorities on April 13 after a 56-year-old man died following surgery on his infected big toe at Dubbo Base Hospital.

The Saudi Arabian-trained doctor was reprimanded “in the strongest possible terms” for her delay in calling for help when the patient went into full cardiac arrest, as well as failure to adequately review the man’s clinical files and medical history.

Dr Ismail was reprimanded over the death of Vanessa Anderson, 16, who died two days after being hit by a golf ball in 2005.

She was also officially reprimanded in 2008 over her prescribing of painkillers in the death of Hornsby schoolgirl Vanessa Anderson, 16, at Royal North Shore Hospital.

Parents Warren and Michelle Anderson last night said news of the doctor’s reprimand “angered them”.

“You’ve hit a raw nerve, we haven’t forgotten. We didn’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Mrs Anderson said.

Dr Ismail was found to be lacking the correct clinical skills and insight by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Their daughter died after being hit in the head by a golf ball as she looked for her own ball in the rough while playing a round at the Asquith course in Mount Colah.

A coronial inquest found multiple errors of judgment by medical staff, including Dr Ismail misreading a medication chart, led to Vanessa’s death from an overdose of respiratory-suppressing painkillers.

Dr Ismail was working at Dubbo Hospital when the second incident occurred.

In the more recent case, the Health Care Complaints Commission said Dr Ismail, a staff specialist in anaesthetics at Dubbo since 2011, failed to intubate the diabetic and obese patient, monitor his blood pressure or appreciate the significance of low oxygen levels.

“Dr Sanaa Ismail’s employment at Dubbo Hospital and with the Western NSW Local Health District was immediately terminated following the investigation,” she said.

During the patient’s surgery in January 2014, his heart rate and oxygenation deteriorated and he suffered a cardiac arrest before dying days later.

“It was said she lacked ‘clinical skills and insight and performed a poor pre-operative assessment’,” the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal was told during an ­appeal about the case.

“There was also criticism of the applicant’s ­record-keeping and failure to check the pre-operative checklist which had been prepared by nursing staff.”

In the Dubbo case, Dr Ismail gave evidence to a Professional Standards Committee hearing that she was unwell the day before the incident, which affected her management, and said she was “deeply remorseful” about the incident.